A Game of Dare
by valonqar
Summary: After the battle with Amon, Bolin and Korra find themselves bored on a typical afternoon. Dares, chaos, and some good old-fashioned Borra lovin' ensues. Makorra kiss didn't happen, or is just ignored.


"I'm bored."

"Same here."

"We should _do _something."

"Totally. Brainstorm time starting..._now_."

They had been having the same conversation every ten minutes, Korra sprawled out on her stomach across the grass of the Air Temple's lawn like a bearded cat, Bolin lying on his back with Pabu snoring away on his chest. Two hours had passed and still they remained, time ticking by almost painfully slow. One second felt like half an hour, half an hour felt like a year. Over and over again the complained, and yet neither of them could bring it upon themselves to pull themselves off the grass.

It had been like that ever since Amon's defeat and the end of their pro-bending days, a never-ending cycle of boredom. Mako worked, Asami did Asami things, Tenzin meditated, the kids played, and Korra and Bolin just...sat. They were usually content with it, but after weeks on end the Avatar was finding her patience slowing fading into nothingness. Today would be different, she was sure of it - she just had yet to figure out how.

"We could play a game?" Bolin's sudden suggestion is the first one they've managed to come up with all day, and suddenly Korra find herself feeling rather optimistic. Of _course_ they could play a game! Now, what game was still up for debate, but with something finally on the drawing board it seemed like their option were limitless.

All of a sudden Bo shot up from the ground, a fire in his eyes that she hadn't seen in weeks and weeks. It was like some sort of force had come over him, a supernatural surge of excitement. "Oh oh oh! I know I know I _know_!" He looked like a young child the way he was bouncing about on his feet, looking down at her with an impish smile on his face. This could either be horrible or brilliant - Korra didn't really care, at that point. The sooner she got off her ass and started doing something, the better.

"Dare!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air like it was the single greatest idea ever conceived in all of history. "We can play dare! And whoever wimps out first has to buy the winner noodles!" Raising an eyebrow Korra gave him an incredulous look, although she couldn't help the grin that stretched across her face.

"Well, we all _know_ who that'll be." She gave him a pointed look before jumping on her feet, holding out her hand for him to shake with a look of mock seriousness. "But you've got yourself a deal. May the toughest man win - I just hope you've got a lot of money saved up, because I'm all of a sudden craving noodles."

"Alright, you're up first Korra. Are you ready for what I've got in store for you?"

The coin toss had clearly not turned out in her favor. She was hoping to just get Bo on the first dare, picking something so horrible that he wouldn't have the guts to even go through with it and making her the immediate winner. She would just have to grin and bear it, of course, because it wasn't like wimping out was an option, and besides, who was she to say no to a dare? Korra didn't think she had before, and she certainly wasn't planning on breaking that record now. Not when so much was at stake.

"No skin off my back, tough guy." She gave him her best look of intimidation, not allowing herself to be deflated when he laughed in her face. _I'll show him_. Rolling up her sleeves, Korra turned to see what Bo had set up for her, almost laughing out loud when she did.

_He had to be kidding._

Sitting on the bathroom floor in front of her, looking absolutely adorable and not at all as dare-worthy as Bolin seemed to think was Pabu, next to a small metal makeshift bath and soap. She almost wanted to yell at him for making it too easy, but stopped herself halfway through - no way was she passing this one up. It was basically already in the palm of her hands, and Bo was just too blind to see it. Well, he would be regretting this one soon enough.

"All you have to do is give Pabu here a bath," he told her, placing his hands on his hips and looking all-too pleased with himself. "_Without _bending."

She began to protest, but the earth bender cut her off with a _shh_, clearly not willing to make any compromises. Korra supposed it didn't really make a difference anyways; her dare was still bathing an innocent little fire ferret that adored her, and she really didn't think she could ask for much better than that.

Still, there was no way she was going to let Bolin know how easy she thought she was, risking the chance that he might change his mind and give her something evil. Trying her best to look terrified (and surely failing), she edged her way towards the little creature, scooping him up in her arms and leaning in to whisper in his ear. "We got this buddy," she assured him as she moved him towards the tub. "You and me, Pabu. We got this in the bag." And they did, until Korra went to drop him in the bathtub. That was when things started to go a bit wrong.

Pabu flailed in her hands, hissing and scratching at her fingers like he was possessed. Screaming, Korra tried her best to hold on to the animal clawing at her face, noting dully Bolin's laughter in the background. If she could bend she could just drop the water on him, but that was out of the cards, and all she could think was that she was _so going to get Bolin back for this_.

One moment. That was all that thought took. One moment of paying attention, and all of a sudden Korra felt herself fall forward into the tub, thankfully with a still scratching Pabu clutched tight in her arms.

Yeah, Bolin was going to _pay_.

One hour and plenty of bandages later, it was Bolin's turn to face the wrath of the Avatar.

"You ready for this, then?" Korra raised an eyebrow in challenge, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her typical _'fight me' _look that she usually reserved for idiots like Tahno and the Wolfbats crew. Of course, this was a special occasion, and she figured that Bo was completely deserving of whatever she had to give him. She had already taken a bath with a fire ferret; now it was his turn. "Sure you're not scared? I mean, you can just back out - don't even worry about it. I promise you, I won't eat _that_ many orders of noodles. Maybe just twenty, if you give up here and now."

She was goading him, trying to get a reaction, and Bolin knew it. Smirking, he shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder, not looking the least bit perturbed. _Damn_. "Korra, darling, twenty orders isn't anywhere near enough for you. When I beat you I'll order at least fifty, just out of the kindness of my heart. You are a growing girl, after all."

Yeah, neither of them were backing down any time soon. _Typical. _She hadn't expected anything less.

Grabbing onto his hand, Korra tugged him towards the inside of the house, grinning when she noted the foul smell wafting through it. Yeah, this was going to be _perfect_ - Bolin always claimed that there was nothing he couldn't eat, but clearly he had never experienced the cooking of Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo before. Well, he was about to get a lesson on just how disgusting his favourite thing in the food could really be, if mixed correctly. Or incorrectly; she supposed it all depended on how you looked at it.

Turning back to gauge Bolin's reaction, she was disappointed to see how well he was keeping his cool. Korra knew on the inside he was freaking out, that wasn't any surprise, but his face was practically perfectly calm, grinning down at her as she led him through the house.

Finally they made it to the kitchen, the impressively large bowl set out on the table. She had ushered the kids out long ago, despite their protests - this was for her and Bolin to settle, and they had already done their jobs. This payback was for Korra, and Korra alone.

"Smell that?" She pointed to the bowl, a suspiciously chunky red soup-like substance floating around inside. "That, my friend, is your lunch. A creation of the kids - they call it Mystery Soup, but I'm blessed enough to know the ingredients. Water, grass, dirt, chopped beetles, Naga's fur, and hot sauce." This time she got a reaction out of him, grinning when she saw Bolin cringe. Now everything was coming up Korra. "You've gotta eat the whole thing, big boy. Still think you can handle it?"

Even though she knew it would happen, some part of Korra was still desperate for Bolin to say no, to turn away in disgust and refuse. Of course, no one could be _that _lucky, and he just stood up taller and gave the 'soup' his most challenging look, as if he was trying to intimidate it.

"Bring it on."

Ten minutes, many disgusted groans, a bit of gagging, and a lot of swearing later, the bowl was empty and the ball was back in Bolin's court. All Korra could do was pray she knew what she was doing.

Four hours had passed, and she was starting to find herself wearing down. _Four hours_ of treacherous dares, dares that involved cleaning in-between Bo's toes, hitting on Tenzin, and streaking through the city in her underwear. Korra was still shocked she didn't get arrested for that one - it had actually come close, but Lin had saved the day yet again, and she was let off with just a strict warning.

Of course, Bolin hadn't had it much better than her. She had hit him hard, making him serenade Tenzin and profess his love (poor Tenzin had looked like he was going to pass out; Korra would have to apologize for all that later), let Ikki give him a full makeover before parading him around the city in one of Pema's dresses, and making him clean in-between _Naga's _toes, which he had actually taken surprisingly well. All together they had put each other through mountains of crap, and it was practically a miracle that neither one of them had given up yet.

Now they lay back in the position they started the day in, Korra flat on her belly, Bolin stretched on his back, neither saying a word. The competitive tension between them had been building throughout the day to the point where she had almost punched him in the face on multiple occasions, but now they were worn out, and still with no apparent winner.

Korra wasn't done though. Not even _close_. And clearly Bo wasn't either, because it wasn't long before he spoke up.

"I dare you," he began, holding his hand up in the air, and Korra thought she could hear the smile in his voice. _Oh dear. _"I dare you to kiss me."

"What?" This time she was the one who shot up, eyeing him like he was mental. "Come on, Bo. That's not a dare. That's just...well, it's _not _a proper dare! That's not fair!" But he just grinned evilly, cheeky little bastard that he was, shaking his head at her.

"That's the dare, Korra. Take it or leave it."

Leave it, of course. She had to. That was the only thing she _could_ do. She couldn't just kiss Bolin - he was _Bolin_. It was just wrong and weird and not natural, they'd gone through that all already. Dare or no dare, it wouldn't happen, not a chance. She would suck it up, suck up her pride and say no and buy him the noodles, and that would be that. Fifty orders of noodles couldn't be that expensive, right? Just fifty orders, no big deal, she could do it.

Fifty freaking orders of noodles, or a kiss for Bolin. Giving up wasn't in her nature, and she certainly wasn't going to give up now. Not when she was this close.

Springing forward so quickly he didn't even see it, Korra covered her lips with his, intending for the kiss to be short, no more than a friendly peck. But once she was there she found she physically couldn't pull herself away - after his inital shock Bolin had begun to respond in kind, lips moving with her own in perfect sync, bringing her closer to himself, and she simply melted into him, their bodies practically fusing together despite the fact that they were both fully clothed. She could see fireworks and sparks and her cheering in her mind, and when Bo smiled against her lips she knew he felt the same. The dare was forgotten, the noodles somewhere in a far back corner of her mind (but certainly not gone, not even for this) and all she could think was how unbelievably perfect it was, and how she would never experience anything this perfect ever again.

Finally she pulled herself away, noses touching, a mischievous smile on her face as a brilliant idea slipped into her mind. She had him this time, she knew it.

"I dare you," she told him, voice soft and warm but the challenge clearly still there. "To never kiss me again." The words were barely out of her mouth before his was cutting them off, a low chuckle to be heard deep in his throat as she melted into his arms once more.

He didn't even complain once when she ordered sixty rounds of noodles for the two of them later that night - after all, a man should always pay on the first date.


End file.
